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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t the right one for me. I love fantasy, especially the kind that is sometimes called urban fantasy or magical realism, where the fantastical elements interact with the real/regular world. And so I thought this book would be a great fit for me, with its take on Baba Yaga mythology. (I haven’t read American Gods so I can’t comment on that comparison.) I absolutely loved another recently published book that centered on a retelling of Baba Yaga (Thistlefoot) and was hoping for another winner here.
I wound up putting down this book/audiobook a couple of times and trying again, but at nearly 30%, I still wasn’t sure who was who and what was going on and so I finally decided to give up. I kept hoping I’d get to the publicized road trip but at that point it still wasn’t looking like it was happening anytime soon.
The bright spot was the narration by the ever-wonderful Barrie Kreinik, but even she couldn’t save this story for me.
I wound up putting down this book/audiobook a couple of times and trying again, but at nearly 30%, I still wasn’t sure who was who and what was going on and so I finally decided to give up. I kept hoping I’d get to the publicized road trip but at that point it still wasn’t looking like it was happening anytime soon.
The bright spot was the narration by the ever-wonderful Barrie Kreinik, but even she couldn’t save this story for me.
I'm not 20% of the way in yet, but I wonder if I'd continue if I didn't feel like it was only fair to read that far. The story is interesting enough, but the writing is...unique. LONG ASS sentences and metaphors every other breath. Also, too much vague, "will be explained fully later" type stuff for my taste. I like having at least some clue what is going on.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A kaleidoscopic view of what it means to be divine, what it means to be worshipped - and what it means to be a part of a world you cannot believe you belong to. A feverish modern-day fairy tale of greed and love and life.
Nat Drosdova's mother is dying. Slowly. In a last hope of life, she sends her child to the Grandmother. And Baba de Winter opens doors to Nat that the girl never knew existed.
The writing, in my opinion, is the best part of this novel. It's luscious, lingering on unique descriptions of characters and settings, describing the mundane in a way that leans almost into uncanny valley. The images presented are unexpected, often turning mundane into divine. It kept me reading, lingering over turns of phrase that I had never imagined before.
Conceptually, I love stories like this. I enjoy the muddled aspect of theology and mythology all coming together into one crazy world. While I don't disagree with some other reviewers that there are moments in this story that we've perhaps seen before in other pieces of literature, I would also argue that by its very nature, this story cannot be wholly unique. We are all of us praying to some god or another, and there is a reason the divine becomes the divine. These characters are personifications of humanity's very basic wants and prayers. They SHOULD be familiar. We should know them in an instant.
What I felt was muddled the most was the inclusion of more literary agents into the conceptual pantheon created in this story. I'm not entirely certain how this divine system works, so I can't necessarily say if the included American literary canon has a place in this story.
The story leaves off somewhat abruptly, be warned, giving the reader only a taste of the journey to come. I am quite interested to see where this series takes us.
Nat Drosdova's mother is dying. Slowly. In a last hope of life, she sends her child to the Grandmother. And Baba de Winter opens doors to Nat that the girl never knew existed.
The writing, in my opinion, is the best part of this novel. It's luscious, lingering on unique descriptions of characters and settings, describing the mundane in a way that leans almost into uncanny valley. The images presented are unexpected, often turning mundane into divine. It kept me reading, lingering over turns of phrase that I had never imagined before.
Conceptually, I love stories like this. I enjoy the muddled aspect of theology and mythology all coming together into one crazy world. While I don't disagree with some other reviewers that there are moments in this story that we've perhaps seen before in other pieces of literature, I would also argue that by its very nature, this story cannot be wholly unique. We are all of us praying to some god or another, and there is a reason the divine becomes the divine. These characters are personifications of humanity's very basic wants and prayers. They SHOULD be familiar. We should know them in an instant.
What I felt was muddled the most was the inclusion of more literary agents into the conceptual pantheon created in this story. I'm not entirely certain how this divine system works, so I can't necessarily say if the included American literary canon has a place in this story.
The story leaves off somewhat abruptly, be warned, giving the reader only a taste of the journey to come. I am quite interested to see where this series takes us.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Toxic relationship, Alcohol
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
𝐒𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠’𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐚 is an urban fantasy with a very interesting premise! There is so much mystery and magic on this adventure that I had a hard time putting it down because I was so curious as to where the story would go next. This unique story is full of intriguing characters, a delightfully gloomy atmosphere, and suspense. I would have liked to have seen the ending be a little more fleshed out as I feel like it ended rather abruptly, but otherwise it was a really interesting and entertaining read.
This was such a unique read, I’ve honestly never read anything like this one. I loved the author’s descriptive writing style and the overall concept of this book. I did find that this one started off a bit slow, although it did pick up after a bit. I also struggled to visualize the world and characters, despite the descriptive writing. That being said, this book had a great story, that readers who love urban fantasy should enjoy.
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Ah, this was a fantastic read, loved the world and these characters, and I can't wait to continue!